Vadodara: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said the long pending issue of demand for transfer of defence land here to Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) will be resolved at the earliest.

City Mayor Bharat Dangar, Vadodara BJP MP Ranjanben Bhatt and VMC Commissioner Vinod Rao met Parrikar in this regard during his visit to the city yesterday.

"I have sought details from the Defence office in Pune and after getting it, the bottlenecks in the transfer deal will be cleared," Parrikar told PTI before leaving from here late last evening.

He said they have to look into all aspects related to the transfer of defence land to the institutions who want it.

VMC requires the land for solving the problem of traffic congestion in the city, which has witnessed a considerable increase in vehicular traffic in past 20 years.

The VMC has been seeking since 1996 transfer of 12,438 sq m of defence land for widening of roads. This includes 8,752 sq m land in Tarsali, 1,887 sq m land near EME School in Harni, 289 sq m land near Lalbaug Bungalows in Manjalpur and 1,510 sq m near Kapurai range in Danteshwar.

In this regard, Dangar also handed over a letter to Parrikar, who assured him of looking into the matter to resolve it soon.